Mike

1. A Josh Simpson Inhabited Planet given to me by my wife on our Anniversary. 2. A Vitro Phantom Conqueror that came out of a Tom Sawyer bag that was a premium when purchasing clothes I got when I was 8 years old or so. All value on this is also sentimental. 3. A common early Champion blue/white or green /white swirl I have had since childhood. Totally worthless except it was in my gray corduroy marble bag with red embroidery that said Mike's Marbles made by my mom. The other 150,000 plus marbles are for sale and selling.

Just curious....I guess made a few days ago. Was the base glass started with industrial? Need to see more families. Wondering if this is what the whole run looks like? Thanks.

Have not visited this site for a long time and miss the fights.

Make it two votes for McCormick's Shamrocks. Much preferred for the look, quality & price with no dispute as to how they came about!

I would much rather buy nice colorful Cambridge glass Shamrock's with a seam for $5-$25 than ever invest a few or even many hundreds of $dollars in the maybe/maybe not so called "Exotic" but that is just me. Marbles just do not seem to fit in the same category yet as pre-Columbian miniatures 200BC-400AD. Think I will wait a few thousand years before paying real big bucks for a machine-made marble be it old, rare or not.

Today, somebody listed some (hopefully correctly) Chrisseys at 99 cents each on Ebay. Some of them look to have pocket wear, some have chips and sparkles, some not too bad and some the as-made blowholes.

No opinion much or comments from me on superballs, goofy, going either way or anything else beyond what I said about wanting to see more Jabo and DAS here. Sorry I answered what I thought was a poke in the eye. Have fun all and thanks!

Some of my favorite marbles aside from Jabo and DAS are the Christensens that have a couple or more colors and bring $200 -$700 or more because they have a nice straight seam on them. If Jabo ever figures out the straight seam thing it would be really good for the sellers interested in making big money misleading unsuspecting novice collectors. I agree that Superballs are great because of the way all the colors run like rivers all over the surface. If the Superballs were glass and had a nice straight seam, we could buy them for a quarter or so too and sell them to the unsuspecting collectors for a couple hundred like some of the other stuff sold on ebay. You got to love America and capitalism!

I really like like the ones that look like vintage marbles best. Buy them for a quarter and sell them for a $20. You got to love it!

Dear Spinning Marble, Please reread what was written when Jabo marbles were referenced as being good for some and a value for others. I did not say all was perfect, I am not sure but think the ebay marbles you linked were not during the Dave McC time so I tend not to defend that time but then again I might be wrong. Also, everyone pretty much knows where some stand on Jabo. I do not bad mouth others interest in things that they might collect and sell and that might be a good lesson for others posting here. Just thought I would make a correction and let folks know that not all Jabo are bad for everyone. OK? I repeat, Jabo marbles that I have invested in has not been anywhere close to being a bad deal and I am quite happy with all the result be it ebay or anything else. If one does not like them or sell them it is fine. Put the spin on something else!

So a few days ago, I was reading this post and it said that the ebay price today of Jabo special run marbles was about 1/10 of what it once was. I wanted to let it go but decided that that statement might be true in some instances, for some sellers, some product runs and was the gospel preached by some but not true for or the opinion held by all. For me, the statement is BS! After 15 or more years of selling Jabo, they often bring 10 or more times today than they once did. I am very happy with my Jabo purchases and wish I would have bought more of a bunch of stuff. Thirty years ago, I could go to the grocery store with $5 and come home with three pounds of ground round steak, milk, bread, potatoes, assorted canned goods, fresh fruit and still come home with change left over! I can't do that anymore but mostly it is because of all the security cameras in the stores. As for the Jabo special run marble prices, I submit that the market is quite good for many sellers. It would appear that good quality Jabo (Dave McCullough) inventory, good pictures to show it off and with honest and descriptive copy brings great money for the sellers and must bring great value to the buyers as evidenced by the final price that many of the marbles bring. Over the last few days, I have seen the hammer come down on many single Jabo Special Run marbles selling for $5, $7, $20, $30 and more dollars each. Not bad for Jabo crap.......Huh?

As for Beanie Babies, I have about three plastic storage containers of them (mint) in the attic, I believe that the $5.00 & $6.00 I paid for each of them was worth it compared the most of the toys I purchased for my three children growing up. Beanies were not an investment for me. I just thought that I got some neat things in much variety for little bucks. Can't wait to give them to a grandchild to swim in like Scrooge McDuck did in money.

This is just one persons comments....my own. I have invested in four Special or investor runs and am quite happy, have no regrets and should everything tank (value, sales & whatever) to below zero on what I paid in the morning, I feel very lucky that I was able to get in on all of them. Thank you very much.

I submit that what is happened to cause the decline in marble prices is just a matter of perspective and brand or product bought or sold. Not too many years ago, a vast majority of folks had problems paying .02 at retail for a Jabo 5/8 inch Classic. Now they sometimes bring a dime or more depending. Best Buy would kill for that sort of mark-up and margin. Fairly recently, people talked about the proliferation of special/investor run marbles and how worthless they are to some. I believe the market for these has improved and will only get better now that Mr. Dave is no longer with Jabo. Can I get an Amen from any visionaries out there?

It looks like modern cat eyes are in the mix. Guess some extra stuff made it into the box? Would like a better photo. Someone could help them to make sure of historical accuracy